Identity 1: "Like a chair left behind in a very strange world"

Title: "Like a chair left behind in a very strange world."

Author: M. Hill

Subject: ELA

Grade: 6

Week: 1, Lesson 1

Unit/Lesson Plan #: Identity, 1

Unit theme: Identity

(As a short lesson, this may be combined with additional "start of class" business, such as handing out syllabus or distributing textbooks)

Textbook references:

Esperanza Rising (Esperanza Renace) by Pam Munoz Ryan, "First Day of School" ("Primer dia de clases") by Francisco Alarcon

"First Day of School" audio read by Alarcon

Other poems read by Alarcon

Learning objectives:

- To begin to understand that we can use language to express ourselves and communicate our feelings in interesting ways

- To build connections between students in ELA I on the first day of school through the creation of descriptive language

- To explore the use of simile to create interesting description

- To build connections between texts (Esperanza Rising (summer reading) and "First Day of School") so as to build connections between the experiences of ourselves and those of literary characters

Key Questions, Concepts, or Themes:

Line of Inquiry:

How does exploring others’ voices and identities help us to define our own voices and understand the role of individual voice and identity as critical elements of ourselves as writers/thinkers?

Essential Question:

How does descriptive language allow us to communicate specific ideas to others, or convey a feeling in a vivid way?

Stage 1:

JOURNAL WARM-UP: Describe your feelings about the first day of school. How have your feelings changed over the course of the school day?

Stage 2:

A. Read "First Day of School" by Francisco Alarcon as a class.

"Primer día de clases" por Francisco Alarcon

Parado frente a la "teacher"
Apreté aun más fuerte
La mano de mi abuela
La teacher se sonrió
Dijo algo en inglés, pero yo no entendí
Mi abuela luego me dio su bendición y se fue
Yo me quedé hecho silla en un mundo muy extraño.

In English...

"First Day of School" by Francisco Alarcon

Standing before the teacher
I squeezed my grandma's hand even harder
The teacher smiled, said something in English, but I did not understand
My grandma then gave me her blessing and left
I felt like a chair left behind in a very strange world.

Listening Extension: Alarcon reading his works online at: http://www.colorincolorado.org/read/meet/alarcon

B. Ask class:

- What do you notice? (may probe with, "What do you notice about the character? Setting? Tone? Feelings? Identity of the character?" etc.)

- What parts of the poem particularly strike you?

C. Isolate last line, "I felt like a chair left behind in a very strange world." What do you notice about this line? How is it similar to/different from the rest of the lines in the poem? Identify this as an example of simile.

D. Explore other similes in Esperanza Rising. How does this technique change the way you interpret what the author means? What insights do similes give to the text?

Stage 3:

A. Students revisit their journal startings on the first day of school, and write their own similes to describe some aspect of how they feel. They may also write similes about the school, their classmates, their teachers, etc.

B. These may be written on large strips of paper to share in small groups or aloud to the whole class. Remind students to ask one another, "what do you mean by this?" or "why did you chose to make that connection?" in order to spark discussion and get the authors reflecting on their work.

Homework: Complete journal page on prompt

Assessments: (attach/link copies)

__ Group assessment

__ Observation of process/student work

__ Self-assessment by student

_x_ Teacher generated assignment

__ Written project

__ Test/Quiz

__ Other: ____________________________________